TUESDAY, JANUARY 26, 2010

Two law firms take 100K S.F. in direct leases at One North Wacker

by Illinois Real Estate Journal Reports
Chicago

The Chicago office of Hines has announced that the law firms of Barnes & Thornburg LLP and Sedgwick Detert Moran & Arnold LLP, in separate transactions, have signed direct leases for more than 100,000 square feet at One North Wacker in downtown Chicago's West Loop.

The direct leases begin in 2012 for both firms, which are currently sublease tenants at the 51-story, 1.4-million-square-foot office tower. One North Wacker was completed in 2001 and was acquired in 2008 by a subsidiary of the Hines U.S. Core Office Fund LP. Hines leases and manages the property.

Barnes & Thornburg signed a long-term lease for 83,000 square feet to accommodate the full-service firm's growth strategy for its Chicago office, which currently has approximately 90 attorneys and 70 staff persons. It was represented in the lease transaction by David Tropp, a senior vice president at CB Richard Ellis.

Sedgwick Detert Moran & Arnold signed a medium-term lease for 19,346 square feet for its 24-attorney Chicago office, which originally opened in 1989 and has been located at One North Wacker since 2003. The international litigation and business law firm was founded in San Francisco in 1933 and currently has 13 offices and more than 350 attorneys worldwide. It was represented in the lease transaction by Rick Schuham of Studley Inc.

One North Wacker is currently 98 percent leased. Lead tenant UBS A.G. occupies some 450,000 square feet.

Hines entered the Chicago real estate market in 1981 with the development of Three First National Plaza. Its Chicago-area portfolio of owned and managed properties currently exceeds 12 million square feet.

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